The electronic stack of resumes arrive in the inbox ready for your perusal and is generally best paired with an adult beverage. After fighting upper management to defend the budget and fund your new hire; the tough slog of finding the right match ensues. TaskRabbit founder, Leah Busque, stated "hiring's tough. The difficult thing is the nagging feeling that, despite your best efforts, the perfect candidate will somehow fall through the cracks."

The replacement cost is targeted between 16-20% of the annual salary and is a pricey endeavor in time and resources. After all the work, there is still the chance that after a couple of months you find your hiring system and gut instinct was wrong and the new hire isn't the right match. Having been on both sides of the interview, asking the right questions to ensure there is alignment between the hopeful new hire and the prospective company is critical.

If you have been in the game any amount of time, you have refined your skill at determining the best candidate for the position. I am now far more at peace arriving at an interview with a boatload of questions to ensure expectations are understood than when I wore a younger man's clothes. The hiring decision is an opportunity to propel or disrupt the entire team. Beyond finding capable hands to accomplish the work, you are influencing the organizational culture with each new personality. Your current team and customers are counting on you to use your process to correctly discern who to offer a handshake and offer letter; choose wisely.

How much does your gut instinct play a role in hiring a candidate? What are the key "tells" that a candidate is the right or wrong fit? Who were your best/worst hires and what lessons did you learn that you now apply? How has your process changed? What innovative and creative processes do you use to really know the candidate? What are your hiring blind spots that may allow the wrong person to be hired?

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